Railway passenger-car



(No Model.) E: P. oseoon.

RAILWAY PASSENGER GAR. I

Patented Jan. 8, 1884.

JFzpenfdr u PETERS. rhmumq m m. Washinglon. n c

UNITE STATES EDXVIN P. OSGOOD, OF MALDEN, hIASSAGHUSETTS.

RAILWAY PASSENGER-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed November 12, 1853.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN I Oscoon, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Railway Passenger-Cars;

and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to railway passengercars; and it consists of a partition of flexible material or fabric adapted to be extended or contracted, after the manner of a curtain, and when unrolled or extended to be fixed upon the back or backs of the seat or seats, for the purpose of separating the seats, in ord'er to give seclusion to the occupants.

I have hereinafter described the manner in which I have embodied my invention, and illustrated the same in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of the back of the seat, with the partition extending laterally, in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the car, showing the partition attached at one end to the side of the ear. Figs. 3 and 4 represent modifications.

In Fig. 1 a curtain, A, is represented as attached to a roller, B,which maybe an ordinary springroller, like that used upon curtains, connected to the wall by brackets b. The free end of the curtain is extended by means of a rod, 0, which has bolts 0, like a door or shutter bolt, sliding within it at one end. In the form shown, in which the curtain is extended horizontally, this belt is in the lower end of the rod. The roller B is attached to the side of the car in line with the upper edge of the back of the seat when said back is in its normal condition. The curtain is long enough,when extended, to reach near the end of the back against the passage, and a hole or socket is provided in the back for the bolt 0; or in place of the hole a bolt-socket maybe attached to the back, as the workman may prefer: The construction will be such that when the curtain is extended and the bolt dropped into its place the curtain will be held taut, or nearly so. Of course the red C may be made long enough to be inserted in the hole without an extensible bolt.

It will be apparent that the roller may be attached to the top of the car and be drawn Patent No. 291,764, dated January 8, 1884.

(No model.) V

down or attached to the top of the back, and be drawn up with the same general effect, and I do notlimit myself to the particular construction of the roller or the curtain adapted to be wound thereon, as a folding flexible curtain may be used, like Venetian blinds, or with folds like those of a fan. These are details of construction which may be used at pleasure without departing from the spirit of my invention. By means of this construction, one being placed in line with every seat-back, the occupant of the seat desiring to be secluded from observa' tion may draw the curtains, and fixing the rod 0 in the socket or hole, may shut off the seat in front and rear from the rest of the car, excluding observation or shutting out the rays of the sun or drafts of air from the windows in front or rear. It may be made strong enough to serve also as a support forthe head. So far as described, this construction shuts out obser- 7o vation from front and rear; but as it may be desired to render the seat entirely private, I may provide the corner rod or post with a curtain similar to the one described, but secured to said post upon the opposite side therefrom. This curtain is adapted to be secured across the entrance to the seat, and maybe provided with suitable hooks or catches for connection with the post upon the seat in front. WVhen not in use,both curtains would roll evenly upon the post. This would effectually close up the entrance to the seat and entirely exclude observation. Upon these curtains the names of the stations along the line could be printed, or they could be ornamented by landscape-pictures, or in any suitable or desirable manner.

It will be understood that the manner of connecting the roller to the wall or ceiling, as herein explained, may be varied, and any suitable well-known mechanical means may be employed for the purpose.

Instead of securing the curtain to the wall directly in line with the back of the seat, it may be secured at any convenient point and be directed under a guide secured to the wall in line with the back of the seat, as shown in Fig. 2.

It may also be found preferable in some cases to have the curtain simply attached to two rods or posts adapted to be inserted in sockets at each end of the back of the seat, the whole be- 100 ing capable of being rolled up and placed within a case, as in Fig. 4,which may be attached to the wall of the ear, or may be placed in any convenient position. In this case the spring- 5 roller would not be necessary.

I am aware that flexible and extensible partitions for sleeping-cars to divide the berths thereof are not new, and, further, that it has been proposed to provide a partition adapted IO to be folded between the seats of an ordinary day-car, andI do not therefore claim, broadly, a partition between the seats of a railroad-car.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters I 5 Patent, is-

1. A flexible and extensible partition adaptscribing witnesses.

EDWIN I. OSGOOD. WVitnesses:

BYRON A. OSGOOD, SARAH T. PENNEY. 

